


The Comfort of Flannel

by iloveromance



Category: Gilmore Girls
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2020-06-03
Packaged: 2021-03-04 01:13:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 729
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24525190
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iloveromance/pseuds/iloveromance
Summary: Lorelai finds it hard to maintain her composure after visiting her father in his hospital room. But Luke provides a comfort unlike any she's ever known. (Episode: "Forgiveness and Stuff")
Relationships: Luke Danes/Lorelai Gilmore
Comments: 4
Kudos: 31





	The Comfort of Flannel

Her heart clinched in her chest as she quietly walked out of her father's hospital room. She should have been relived that everything would be okay. The doctor advised him to exercise and watch what he ate (which was good advice for everyone) but she couldn't shake 

the awful feeling that had been swirling around for hours. Just as she rounded the corner, she saw him. The sight of Luke was the most comforting sight imaginable, as crazy as it sounded. She'd never thought of Luke as comforting before, but she supposed there was a 

first time for everything. He was wearing a ski vest and underneath his trademark plaid shirt. And atop his head was a well-worn baseball cap, worn backwards of course.

"I heard." He said when their eyes met. "Everything's okay."

Lorelai nodded and feigned a smile, but inside she was a complete mess. "Yeah. They were going to keep him overnight, but-." Horrified, her voice broke and the second that Luke touched her arm, she fell against him, crying into his ski vest and plaid shirt. The salt from 

her tears would surely ruin the material but he didn't seem to mind. His arms went around her and he rubbed her back, bringing a comfort that he probably had no idea existed. But she felt it with every fiber of her being. She needed this right now; she needed him, but 

she wouldn't dare admit it. 

"Here's where I'm supposed to give you my handkerchief. But there's a problem."

She looked at him in confusion. "What? What problem?"

"Well, see I don't have one-a handkerchief, that is."

His comment made her laugh-an act that just thirty seconds earlier seemed unfathomable. "That's okay. It's the thought that counts."

"No, it's not.."

"What? Of course it is! The thought always counts!"

"No, that's not what I meant! I meant-oh geez, never mind. Look, I have something that you might like better."

"What's that?"

He handed her a steaming paper cup and smiled. "Coffee."

"Coffee's good." She took the cup from him and closed her eyes, bringing it to her nose to inhale the rich aroma. It wasn't bad for hospital coffee. Besides, she practically lived for coffee in any form. "Thanks, Luke."

"No problem. Anything else I can do?"

She sighed and sank onto the obnoxiously uncomfortable chair. Did hospitals have committees that they put together where they picked out the most uncomfortable chairs known to man to put in their hallways? And what was with the unattractive waiting area? Was there 

a law against hospitals having a pleasant place to wait for their friends and relatives?

"Lorelai, are you okay?"

Her mind switched gears, quickly filling with thoughts of her father. Memories of things they'd done, things they'd said to one another, things she wished that she had done or said. And she realized that all of that could have been gone in the blink of an eye. She wouldn't 

have her dad anymore and she'd be left with a bunch of memories, some wonderful and some painful. And Rory-

The unattractive waiting area and the man standing before her blurred before her eyes and the tears began to fall once more before she could stop them. She tried to hide them, but a sob escaped. Damn it.

Luke sat down beside her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey… what is it?"

She couldn't tell him the truth-that she was still worried about her dad, despite the doctor's diagnosis. Luke was bound to think her stranger than before. And so she lied-sort of. "I-I just… I never got to eat that Santa burger. It was so sweet of you to make it."

"Yeah, well… I'll make you another one, how about that?"

"That sounds great. And one for Rory too?"

He groaned. "I don't…"

"Oh come on, Luke! You have to! Rory has to have a Santa burger!"

"Well…. Okay, sure. Why not?"

"Great, um… but can you do something else for me right now?"

"Yeah, anything."

She took a deep breath. "Will you… Just hold me, for a little while? Please?"

He smiled and sat down beside her, his arm draped around her shoulder. And it was so easy to close her eyes and rest her head against his shoulder to forget the world around her, just for a little while.

THE END


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